Timmins

Timmins had been an NDP stronghold for over three decades, held by Gilles Bisson since 1990. Bisson, a former labour organizer and electrician, was one of the longest-serving members of the Ontario legislature, having been elected eight consecutive times across redistributed ridings. The 2022 election represented a generational clash: the veteran New Democrat against George Pirie, the sitting mayor of Timmins and a former senior mining executive, running for the Progressive Conservatives. With the PCs making unprecedented inroads across northern Ontario, the race in Timmins drew attention as a bellwether for the party’s ability to break the NDP’s hold on the region.

Candidates

George Pirie (Progressive Conservative) — Pirie had a thirty-five-year career in the mining industry, including serving as President and CEO of Placer Dome Canada, President and CEO of Breakwater Resources, and President and CEO of San Gold Inc. After graduating from Laurentian University, his mining career began with Noranda’s Pamour Porcupine Mines in Timmins. He was elected mayor of Timmins in 2018 and had been involved in community organizations including the local United Way, the Timmins and District Hospital board, and Northern College, where he served as chairman of the board.

Gilles Bisson (NDP) — Bisson was first elected to the legislature in 1990 in the riding of Cochrane South. A former electrician and staff representative with the Ontario Federation of Labour, he served as parliamentary assistant to the Ministers of Northern Development and Mines and Francophone Affairs in Bob Rae’s NDP government. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and served in both the Canadian Armed Forces regular force and as a reservist with the Algonquin Regiment.

David Farrell (New Blue Party) and Elizabeth Lockhard (Green Party) also ran, along with Nadia Sadiq for the Confederation of Regions Party.

Local Issues

The opioid crisis was devastating Timmins during the 2018–2022 term. Opioid-related overdose deaths in the Porcupine Health Unit area had risen sharply, with the rate more than tripling between 2018 and 2020, a devastating toll for a city of roughly 42,000 people. The toxic unregulated drug supply was claiming lives at an accelerating rate, and both Pirie and Bisson acknowledged the severity of the crisis while disagreeing on who deserved credit for the responses that had been put in place.

IAMGOLD’s Côté Gold mine, a large-scale open-pit gold project located southwest of Gogama and jointly owned with Sumitomo Metal Mining, was the centrepiece of a mining boom that Timmins had not seen in decades. The project promised hundreds of construction and operational jobs, and both candidates pointed to it as evidence of economic progress, though they sparred over which level of government and which party had done the most to facilitate the development.

Healthcare was a critical concern. Over the previous five years, ten family doctors had left Timmins while only three new physicians started a practice, leaving the city short an estimated seventeen primary care doctors. Patients faced long emergency wait times, and the difficulty of attracting physicians to a remote northern community, partly due to housing availability, compounded the shortage. A local physician recruitment task force was working to address the gap, but residents expressed deep frustration with the pace of progress.